Cindy Bell

A cute short story about Bekki, who left her small town to be a hair stylist in New York. When she finds her boyfriend in bed with another woman she decides to go back home. There she meets her old boyfriend who is now a detective. Of course, the rival shop owner is murdered and Bekki is a prime suspect.

The trouble with this story is that it is obvious who did it from the start.

This book, labeled as a prequel to the Wagging Tail series, but possibly just a somewhat related novella, features Nikki, a dog-sitter. A friend recommended her to a dog owner in a somewhat distant location which gives Nikki a little time to wind down in a different location. Her charges are two pugs. Her neighbor, a somewhat unpopular chef, is dead, and it's clearly murder. He's damaging the economy by trying to dam up the town's creek, a source of water which provides important drought show more relief to all the local neighbors and their businesses, so just about everyone has a motive for wanting the man dead. Even the man for whom she is dog-sitting seems to have some holes and suspicious activity in his story as she can piece it together from afar. It was a pleasant diversion, and it makes me interested enough in what the author can do with a full length novel in this series to consider forking out the $2.99 for the first installment since it isn't available at one of my libraries. show less

Boats and Bad Guys by Cindy Bell is a 2014 publication.

Suzie and Mary find what appears to be a treasure map tucked behind a painting they purchased for their new B&B business. This discovery sends the two friends on a quest to discover what really happened to the artist who painted the picture and if their really is a hidden treasure.

This is super short cozy mystery that solves a cold case and takes the ladies of a bit of a high seas adventure. There is a lot of action and suspense and of show more course the story moves at a very fast pace.

At this stage, the series is still settling into a rhythm, giving the reader a little more insight into the main characters, but also the secondary characters, like Paul and Jason. Since the story was so short, the set up was a little bit rushed through, and some details were not fleshed out, but this makes a solid 'lunch break' mystery and I'm looking forward to seeing what Suzie and Mary get up to next. 3 stars show less

The hardest thing for me when reading a set like this is that the formulaic aspect is definitely noticeable.

The amateur sleuths are two friends who decide to start an inn. One of them has a relative who is on the police force. Despite that, for some reason, she seems convinced that murders won't get solved unless she investigates.